Wednesday 19 June 2013
The Dutch bank and insurance company said its net profit fell to €609m (£488m) from €1.69bn (£1.3bn) a year ago. It says the decline was due to it selling assets at a loss to eliminate the potential for bigger losses later.
AS one Cathedral Quarter door closes, another might be opening.
A BUILDING firm which carried out repair work for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has gone into administration blaming increased financial pressures.
Budget airline easyJet is to upgrade and expand its fleet under a deal to buy 135 Airbus planes over the next nine years. The no-frills carrier said the new 180-seater A320 planes will allow it to boost passengers carried from 60m a year to 90m. The move will mean easyJet can replace around 85 of its current 211-strong fleet of 156-seaters.
Drug group AstraZeneca said plans for a new research base in Cambridge will boost the chances of Britain discovering the next generation of medicines. The group revealed yesterday it will build a £330m research and development site on Cambridge Biomedical Campus by 2016, employing about 2,000 staff.
INternet streaming firm Netflix is to air original TV programming from Dreamworks Animation in a deal described as a major coup for both firms. Financial details were not disclosed but Netflix said the multi-year agreement is its biggest deal for original first-run content. It includes more than 300 hours of new TV.
Coffee chain Costa warmed shares in parent firm Whitbread yesterday after figures revealed another sales boost during Britain's colder-than-normal spring. Costa's like-for-like revenues rose 8% in the 13 weeks to May 30 as more customers lingered in its shops due to frozen temperatures outside. However there was no such boost for Whitbread's restaurant chains.
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